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Grace can't stop laughing. The 18-year-old singer-songwriter from Brisbane is being interviewed for the first time by TheFIX and clearly "You sound so black!" aren't the first words she expected her interviewer to say. Of course, anyone who has heard Grace Sewell's soulful No. 1 debut single, 'You Don't Own Me', gets it. After taking a few moments to compose herself, the budding diva is ready to begin.

But seriously, how did you learn to sing like that?

That's just how my voice is. I'm not putting it on. My mum played a lot of soul and Motown, so I grew up listening to a lot of Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Temptations. I think that's where it comes from.

Speaking of white Australians performing in a black musical style, now that you're based in Atlanta, do you worry about being slammed the way Iggy Azalea has been for leaving Australia?

I think Iggy caught a lot of flak for unnecessary reasons because she was doing something that was a little different. As long as you remember where you came from and you come back and do your thing in your home country, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

For your first single, you covered Lesley Gore's 1963 feminist anthem 'You Don't Own Me'. Do you think of yourself as a feminist?

If being a feminist means I believe women and men should have equal rights, then yeah, I'm a feminist. It's empowering for women to be able to hear those words and sing along with it and know that they are nobody's possessions and they can make up their own mind and we can do whatever we want.

Now your 28-year-old big brother Conrad is No. 1 with his single 'Start Again'. Any sibling rivalry?

There's such an age gap between us he's just happy for his baby sister, and I'm happy that he's finally doing so well.